Mitä kuuluu kukkuluuruu

What's college without a college hoodie?

Aattelin välillä kirjotella kuulumisia suomeksi. Tässä tulee siis asiaa yli kolmen viikon edestä... Yritän jotenkin tiivistää, että edes joku jaksaa lukea.

Koulu:
Ekat kolme viikkoa on menny ihan hurjan nopeesti. Kurssit on tosi mielenkiintosia ja luokkakaverit mukavia. Tai siis ainakin se pieni osa niistä kenen kanssa oon jutellut. Tolla luokalla joiden kanssa eniten oon (hotel) on 97 oppilasta mun lisäksi... Mulla on nyt 6 kurssia, mikä on aika paljon verrattuna etenkin business vaihtareihin joista esim yhdellä on koulua vaan kahtena päivänä viikossa. Mulla siis neljänä päivänä. Perjantait on vapaita woohoo!
Opettajat on enimmäkseen todella mukavia. Ehdoton lemppari on viinikurssin opettaja Monsieur Chambon, jolla on erittäin vahva ranskalainen aksentti huolimatta siitä että on asunut täällä yli 20 vuotta. Välillä meinaa olla vaikeuksia ymmärtää kaikkea kun se vähän innostuu liikaa viinitarinoistaan. Mutta tämä herra todella tietää mistä puhuu ja en haluaisi missään nimessä missata yhtäkään sen tuntia. Ekalla tunnilla nauroin niin paljon, että naamaan sattu. "It's a paaarty in your mouth!". Oon kyllä semmonen sommelier tän lukukauden jälkeen.
Myös brittiläinen Mrs Pearson on ihan huippuhauska ja jo pelkästään sen aksentti tekee sen tunneista viihdyttäviä. Mrs Butler on kyllä ihan mukava, mutta en oikein pidä sen opetustavasta enkä oikeen opi sen tunneilla hirveesti, vaikka aiheet onkin mielenkiintosia. Ja sen antamat netissä tehtävät kotitehtävät on ajanut mut hermoromahduksen partaalle.
Mr Dolsonin World Economics tunteja vähän pelkään, koska alotin kaks viikkoa muiden jälkeen ja ekalla tunnilla se tenttas mua vähän turhan hankalilla kysymyksillä. En ollut ihan ehtinyt kurssin vaatimaan mindsetiin ja vieläkin hävettää mun antamat vastaukset... Mut nyt osaan varautua niihin tulevaisuudessa, ja tolla luokalla (concierge) on vaan parikymmentä tyyppiä ja ne vaikuttaa todella mukavilta niin enköhän mä selviä!
Troy Townsend on myös ihan mukava, mutta vieläkin hävettää se, että taisin jossakin sähköpostissa ennen tänne tuloa sanoa Mr Townsend. Hän kun sattuukin olemaan nainen. En oo kyllä ainoa joka luuli niin, koska Troyhan on miehen nimi...

Hotelliala alkaa kiinnostaa yhä enemmän päivä päivältä. Muistan kyllä että se on kummitellut muiden urahaaveiden (laulaja, näyttelijä, kampaaja, Äiti Teresa, just to list a few) takana, mutta jostain syystä en ole täysin tajunnut kuinka paljon se oikeasti kiinnostaa.

NIIN turhauttavaa kun oli vaan neljä eriväristä tussia! :D

En oo ilmeisesti oikein vielä tottunut tähän systeemiin, koska oon jo täysin vahingossa unohtanut kaks online quiziä... Harmittaaaaaa ja ärsyttää olla tällänen lahopää! Tästä lähin pistän kaiken post-it lapuille ja seinälle. Mulla on ikävä mun tussitaulua! Täällä on siis oma ihanan Moodlen tapainen nettisysteemi, joka on kyllä vielä vähän monimutkaisempi... Ikävä siis jopa Moodlea!

En oo myöskään vieläkään oppinut navigoimaan täydellisesti koulun käytävillä ja aika usein pitää katsoa kartasta, että missä suunnassa mikäkin rakennus sijaitsee. Ja aika usein kävelen eksyneen näköisenä edestakasin viihdyttämässä kanssaopiskelijoita.

Parilla tunnilla vaaditaan business vaatetus, joten niitähän piti sitten mennä shoppailemaan. Oli melko huvittavaa ja hämmentävää katsoa sovituskopissa peiliin ja miettiä että kukas se tuo bisnesleidi oikein on. Ajattelin vaan että kai se on aika kasvaa aikuiseksi. Mutta onneksi vasta vain pariksi tunniksi viikossa.

Main Entrance. Toisella puolella tätä vasemmalla menevää katua on nää meidän townhouset. Parempia kuvia ehkä joskus.

Vapaa-aika:
Pari kertaa oon käynyt yksillä mun luokkalaisilla hengaamassa, mutta enimmäkseen on viimeaikoina tullut vietettyä aikaa muiden vaihtareiden kanssa nyt kun vihdoin niitäkin olen löytänyt. Ja tiistaina kämppisten kanssa dinnerille juhlistamaan yhden niistä synttäreitä. Jee! En oikeen niitä ehi ikinä näkemään kun kaikilla on ihan omat elämät ja aikataulut ja kotona ollessa tykkään vetäytyä nauttimaan omasta rauhasta etten tuu hulluks! Pakko vaan välillä olla ihan vaan yksin omien ajatusten kanssa ja katsoa netflixiä. Täällä on myös cable tv jonka siis saa tietokoneeseenkin, mutta en jostain syystä saa sitä näkymään vaikka seurasin asennusohjeita. Vinkkejä otetaan vastaan. Epäilen kyllä että sekin johtuu siitä etten jostain kumman syystä saa tietokoneen aikavyöhykettä muutettua. Ainakin tiedän aina paljonko kello on Suomessa............
Vaihtareiden kanssa ollaan esimerkiksi käyty koulun baarissa (jep) kuuntelemassa XXX stand upia, keilaamassa (poikia vähän otti päähän kun mä voitin... eheh hups), baarissa (oon käyny vasta kerran ja muisti pätkii sen verran että en tiedä millon uskallan seuraavan kerran, lisäksi muistona erittäin kipeä ja suuri mustelma jonka alkuperää en tiedä) ja leffassa kattomassa Hobitti 2. Hobitti oli mahtava mutta se hiton hämähäkki kohtaus kesti IKUISUUDEN. Ainakin kavereilla oli hauskaa kun nauro mulle kun en pystyny kattomaan... "I guess you don't like spiders". Nope.
Muut vaihtarit kenen kanssa oon tähän mennessä ollut tekemisissä on 3 suomalaista, 2 hollantilaista, 2 ranskalaista ja 2 belgialaista. Tänään just varattiin Paulinen, Fannyn, Kimberleyn, Laetitian, Robinin, Larsin ja Laurin kanssa lennot Miamiin Spring Breakille. Melkosta säätöä oli yrittää varata kaheksalle ihmiselle lentoja samalle lennolle ja lopulta kaikki vaan varas äkkiä jotain ja makso ihan eri summia ja mä meinasin seota kun olin viiminen joka varas. Toivon vaan että ees joku on samalla lennolla...

Sää on ollut vähän esteenä vapaa-ajan riennoille... Ei oikein ketään huvita lähteä ulos kun muutenkin on pakkasta ainakin 15 astetta, ja kova tuuli ja lentävä ja satava lumi saa aikaan feels like -30 lukemia.

Kunnollisia kuvia en oo saanut vieläkään otettua osittain ton sään takia ja osittain laiskuuden takia...

Ja anteeks taas huono teksti... en jaksa editoida ja sitäpaitsi pitää mennä nukkumaan ehehee. Nää on taas kaikki vaan tällästä epämäärästä ajatusvirtaa, mutta kyllä mä ehkä vielä jonkun tekstin joskus editoin.

Heaven! 3 paria $15. Tulin hulluksi ja juoksentelin ympäriinsä yksi kenkä jalassa siirrellen kamoja sinne tänne. Ja ostin 6. Paria.

En pääse yli näitten steroidisipulien suuruudesta. Ja ne edelliset oli suurempia. Ja mulla on iso käsi.

Taustalla pyöri Bieber.

Todisteet. 159.

Öitä! Tai siis teille huomenta.

Oopsie daisy!

The people who know me know that I tend to be a bit clumsy and awkward sometimes. So here's a collection of what I've already done during my first week here.


Mortifying Bus Rides:
The LTC buses deserve their own chapter. The first time I took a bus I didn't have my bus pass yet so I had to pay with cash. I knew I wouldn't get any change but I didn't have anything smaller than a 5$ bill (at first I accidentally took out a 20$ bill and the driver said "yeah you're not gonna wanna pay with that"). In Finland we just give the money to the driver (and actually get change) so I was just trying to do that. But nooo he was just pointing at a machine. After an awkward moment of figuring out how to put the bill in the driver showed me and mumbled something like "you're making me be late". Oh yeah well SORRY for that.
Coming back I had a 5$ bill again but it was a new one (they're renewing the bills here too). So I had it folded twice like I'd just learned thinking that pheew no pressure now, I know what to do. But it didn't go in. The driver said I had to fold it in another way but I didn't understand what he meant so he showed me but he said that he'd let me go this time ("just pay twice next time" yeah right).
THEN. When I was getting off the bus I didn't know I had to open the door myself. So I was just standing there awkwardly looking at the driver and shrugging my shoulders like a retard. Someone on the bus told me to push the bars on the door to open it (it actually says that on the bars but I hadn't noticed...). So that was embarrassing.
Aaand then one time when I was coming back from the grocery store hands full of heavy bags I couldn't get out in time. There were a couple of people getting off before me and I was right at their heels but the doors just closed and I tried to push the bars but it didn't work and the driver just sped away. THANKS. I pulled the wire (yeah you have to pull a wire that runs along the sides of the bus to  "request a stop") as soon as I'd balanced myself and got off at the next stop. It wasn't that far but since I'd already had such bad luck with the effing buses and was carrying heavy groceries I was soooo pissed. Like, I had to clench my teeth not to cry -pissed.
Aaaahhh got that off my chest. Yay.


The Campus:
On the first day when I came here I asked the lady at the front desk of the residence office where the international office might be. She said that it's right there across the street in the M building. So I went there and there was no one in the whole building. And no international office (not actually in that building). So I just wandered around in there for a while looking like an idiot. That one building is about the size of our campus in Finland and there's 15 more buildings, some smaller some a lot bigger.
The next day I checked where the office was and that it was supposed to be open and tried again. I found it with the help of a campus security guy, buuuut it wasn't open. Great. At least the guard was hot.

Here's a map of the campus, but it's hard to understand just how big it is just by looking at this. It would probably take at least half an hour to walk around it. It is called "a city within a city" after all. (The orange block on the right called Kestrel Court is where I live.)

 It's like my brain's still travelling here. Like still on the way. Now it's maybe somewhere around Greenland. Here's why:

- For the first few days I used to come home and put the key card in my door and then wonder why I couldn't open it until I'd done it a second time. Then after various times of repeating the procedure I finally realised that it hadn't even been locked. So I kept locking it every time I came home. I'm sooo proud of myself. 
- It took me a week to realise there's a Young Offenders Detention Center right next door. I mean I'd seen the name on the map many times but hadn't really thought about it. But that explains the high fences...
- It also took me almost a week to apprehend where my room is located in the house. I kept thinking that it was in the corner on the other side of the damn house. Yup... it's not. And I thought I have a good sense of direction.


It's also been like learning everything from the beginning like a child.
Like how to turn on the shower and the sink faucets, and how to flush the fricking toilet. Thank goodness there was nobody else witnessing these educational events.
Also, when I go to the grocery store I have to carefully study each item so I'll know what it even is. I must look very clever doing that since I'm slooowly going through each shelf  and each item and walking back and forth in the aisles.


And in other news:
I had a day of firsts today. First time in Tim Horton's aka Timmy's (bought a large hot chocolate since it was so cheap and it took me like 20 mins to drink it), American Apparel (not really my kinda clothes), and Wendy's (I gave up trying to find veggie food and ate chicken... bleh)

Bagged milk freaks me out.

This is what it was like the other day when the school was closed. Now it's just slush and water.

I've been nom nom nomming these blueberries which are very much unlike our bilberries.

Been looking for hipster glasses for a while. I look like an idiot though so did not buy them.

I just looove all the books in Urban Outfitters. I'd like to buy them all.

Especially these. (He's Canadian in case you didn't know)

HOW can the onions be so HUGE?! I don't think you can see it in this picture but I swear the ones on the right are the size of a baby's head.

First house party. Beer bong and shisha! (ei mitään huumeita äiti, tupakkaakin parempi vaihtoehto itseasiassa)

Btw, there are some posts I haven't published on Facebook since they're not that interesting but in case someone's really bored, go ahead and read them.

The journey

So... A few days back I wrote a looong post about these same things and it just disappeared. Now that I've finally gotten over the horrendous anger that caused me I'm gonna try again.


Checking in on the flight caused my blood pressure to rise quite a bit. The attendant wasn't sure if I was allowed to come here without either a visa or a return ticket. So I had to wait for her to get her supervisor there and then wait for them to figure it out. Well the outcome was that they allowed me on the flight but they warned me that I "may be refused entry" when I arrived in Canada. Luckily the officer in Toronto just asked me some questions etc but never even hinted that I might need to buy a return ticket or anything.

Some people are afraid of flying, but I actually enjoy it very much. Especially the take offs and landings, which are the hardest part for many people. The feeling is something quite unique... It's like being on a roller coaster plus at the same time feeling like you're as free as a bird. Well that sounded cheesy...
So the flights went well, but I was pretty exhausted when I arrived in Toronto, because for some reason I'm not able to sleep on a plane... Maybe I enjoy it too much haha. So when I got to the customs desk and had to fill out the form my hands were shaking. The guy must've noticed it since he volunteered to fill in the rest of the form for me. Fortunately he must've also guessed that it was due to being tired and not nervous cause I'm a terrorist or something.
I was surprised by how many times they wanted to check me and the form. I had to show it three more times and each time I'd just put it back in my bag so I had to dig it put every time, and in the end the last guy checking it kept it. So that went well.

There might've been a free shuttle to the hotel but I didn't know about it and was too tired to even think about that so I just took an overpriced taxi. The hotel was nice but not as nice as I'd expected since it was a Hilton. But I just watched some TV and went to bed, and at least the King-size bed was really nice. So was the breakfast. Yum yum yum.

I had made a reservation with RobertQ for a minibus-ride from the airport to London. I expected to see some great views etc on the way but the only interesting thing I saw were the signs for an African Lion Safari and a Butterfly Conservatory. And multiple signs for Tim Horton's and Starbucks.

In London I had to take a taxi again since I had no idea how to get from the terminal to my apartment. At least it wasn't as expensive as last time and the driver was really nice and asked questions and told me where we were etc.

I'll make a separate post about the apartment and all that some day in the future.

I can't come up with a good ending sentence so I'll just throw some pics here.

Can someone tell me what those glowing orange roofs are in Iceland

Wanna go for a swim?

The view from my hotel room. Nice cars..........

Packing!

I only started packing today, the day before leaving. But when I moved, I was clever enough to sort my clothes then, which made it a whole lot easier. I had three different categories: the ones that would be going back there with me, the ones that would not, and the ones that I would take with me to Canada. I'm only taking the clothes that I know I'll wear.

In total I'm allowed to take 56 kg of stuff with me (2 x 23kg + 10kg). Noooot planning on exceeding that. At the moment I've packed almost everything and my suitcase is only 17,6kg and backpack like 3kg so no worries!

This is the best ever travel related invention imo! (a bag scale)

Easy peasy pumpkin peasy! A bit blurred but note that I'm holding it up with one hand and taking a picture with the other

I went shopping on Monday and I was looking for a backpack and had a hard time deciding what I wanted so in the end I just bought one that was on sale. Accidentally it's a bit matchy-mathcy with my suitcase... Ooopsie!

I also finally went to the bank today to get some dollars. Well actually I'd gone before but I didn't want spend all day queuing in there... But this time I just had to wait. The bank opened at 10 and I was there at about 10.20. And I left at 11.10. Yay! I guess all the grannies had been waiting outside for the door to be opened... I felt a bit queasy due to not having eaten anything and I couldn't even sit down because I had to let the elderly to rest their brittle bones (no one told me to but that's just how I roll... even though I don't always like it).

That was my line number. And it was number 8's turn when I went in.

It would've been just my luck that after all that waiting they wouldn't have had any CADs but luckily they did... Love the peeking 'hole'!

I still can't really comprehend that tomorrow I'll actually be in Canada... Well maybe I'll realise it on the plane. I don't think I'll have the energy to go to downtown Toronto tomorrow and I'll probably just hang out in the hotel, but we'll see. It takes an hour to get there on public transport and the flight lands at 17.55 so it'd get quite late... But I'll have time to go there later, it's not that far!

Last supper :b

All packed and ready to go!

Aaaaaaaaahahdocdicjöjcweoc we'll see if I get any sleep this night... At least I think I've got everything ready so I won't need to worry. But I'll probably worry anyways. Ohh well, at least I get to relax and take some time to gather my thoughts at the hotel before going to London and moving in on Saturday.